


Like a disease without any cure

by stars_inthe_sky



Series: thought i was alone [5]
Category: Black Widow (Comics), Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Cats, F/M, Gen, Inspired by Khoshekh, Paranormal, Pets, Slime, Sneaky Natasha Romanov, ghostbusters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-07 03:04:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14071530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stars_inthe_sky/pseuds/stars_inthe_sky
Summary: “Nat, you’re not gonna believe this.” Visible in the setting sunlight through the kitchen windows is Liho—only she’s floating in the air, about a foot and a half above the counter.





	Like a disease without any cure

**Author's Note:**

  * For [supernutellastuff](https://archiveofourown.org/users/supernutellastuff/gifts).



> [supernutellastuff](https://archiveofourown.org/users/supernutellastuff) prompted, "Paranormal Investigators AU with Nat as the skeptic and Bucky as the believer!" Which I did do...sort of.

“Nat, you’re not gonna believe this.”

Stopping in her tracks on the stairwell outside their apartment, Natasha freezes. “Oh, no, what?”

For the third time, Bucky pokes his head around the door he’d just unlocked and then looks back to Natasha. “Remember how we got home the other day covered in ectoplasm?”

She rolls her eyes. “It was Nickelodeon slime, but yes.”

“You and I must have different definitions of ‘nickelodeon,’” he retorts. “Anyway, remember how I said to be careful where you clean it off? And then the cat—”

Natasha winces at that. “Don’t remind me. But we got _her_ clean, too, so why…” She ascends the last few steps, not without trepidation, and peers into the apartment. Visible in the setting sunlight through the kitchen windows is Liho—only she’s floating in the air, about a foot and a half above the counter. “Uh. ”

As if on cue, the cat yowls pitifully and wriggles, sending bits of bright green cascading from her fur, which is spotted anew with them. “I _told_ you there was something hinky happening with that slime!” Bucky declares. “Those teenagers weren’t gonna waste time dumping toys on _Avengers_.”

“How long do you think she’s been like that?” Natasha asks, ignoring his comments. “She looks like she’s tried to get down and figured out it’s not going to work.”

They walk over to the kitchen, with Bucky pausing to lock the door behind them. Taking care not to actually touch Liho, Natasha feels the air around the levitated feline, her brow furrowing deeper as she fails to discover any rig or hidden pedestal that might be responsible.

“How is this even…” she trails off. “And how do we get her _down_?”

Bucky takes a deep breath and reaches for Liho’s middle, snatching her out of the air without meeting resistance and setting her in the sink. The cat heaves an almost human sigh of relief and shakes the green globs out of her fur with vigor before curling around to groom herself.

“So…so whatever we tracked home and got on her…also got into her system?” Natasha muses. “It’s just weird that it took almost a whole week for her to, I don’t know, process the slime and have it re-manifest? Her metabolism should be faster than that. Do you think we should—”

“Just admit I was right that we _did_ get slimed by ghosts, and I’ll take her to the vet myself,” he offers.

“Never.” She leans down into the sink for a closer look. “I mean, she seems fine now. Maybe it’s—but no, that wouldn’t—okay, maybe it was the slime, but those weren’t _ghosts_. Besides, since when do ghosts emit anything solid?”

“Besides in _Ghostbusters_?”

Natasha turns back to him and crosses her arms. “That’s not a documentary, James.”

“Admit it, and I’ll take her to the vet _and_ scour the sink,” Bucky offers, grinning when her shoulders slump in defeat.

“Fine. You’re right. We got slimed by _ghosts_ , somehow. Now I’m gonna go take about six showers and try not to think about whether any of that stuff got in _my_ mouth.” She shudders. “You should probably do the same when you’re back from the vet. Post-sink cleaning.”

“Uh huh,” he nods. Unearthing the travel carrier from a cabinet, Bucky ushers Liho into it and heads out, singing under his breath, “If there’s something strange…in the neighborhood…”

Natasha waits until he’s fully down the stairs and out of the building before making her way into the bathroom. “We’re good, Wanda. The lime Jell-O worked perfectly.” She high-fives the petite Sokovian who’s sitting on the edge of the tub and grins. “Finally found a way to get him to do the vet run _and_ clean the kitchen!”

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from "[Laid](https://www.vevo.com/watch/james/laid-\(version-3\)/GBUV70600410)" by James.


End file.
